Mia's Cooking
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: Sometimes...going hungry isn't the worst option!
1. Chapter 1

**Legal: **I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, events etc. Anything not covered by these rights should be considered the creation of the author.

**Rating: **T

She was a good cook. She knew she was.

Mia was in the kitchen, with several burners going at once, and ingredients all around her. It had been days since Negatron had attacked them, and she still couldn't really understand why he had called her a lousy cook. Everyone loved her cooking, her aunts and uncles, her parents...everyone had constantly told her how great it was.

Even when she had come to the academy, everyone told her how good it was, even when they weren't aware she was around. She wasn't naive enough to believe people always told the truth to their friends' faces in case they hurt their feelings, but she had already heard numerous conversations behind closed doors. Kevin had called her cooking unique, and spoken to the others at length about the meal she prepared them when they were staking out a Nighlock, and Jayden had once commented that he had lost six pounds on her cooking. She wasn't even aware that her cooking was particularly healthy, but then she remembered that she didn't know what Jayden's diet was like before she came here, so it was possible he was eating better.

She looked to one pan, which had thick, gray smoke pouring out of it, and smiled. The chicken, onions and spices were coming along beautifully. It looked a little dry, so she put in another slug of oil, before thinking that might just dilute the flavour, and threw in another couple of tablespoons of chilli powder before stirring it. The oven had yet to sound, and so she knew it would be a while before the stuff she was baking was ready.

She turned her attention back to the salad station which looked like a multi-coloured miniature rainforest. She had always been told that fresh vegetables made any meal, and commonly prepared a salad to go with any meal, but it was essential tonight.

She had been a little self-conscious ever since Negatron's attack, and was looking for reassurance. So far her friends had told her that the cooking was good, but she was out to prove herself and had been pulling out all the stops and experimenting. Tonight, she was going Tex Mex and preparing fajitas, right down to making home-made tortillas. Kevin walked in.

"This smells...great." He told her. "What is it?"

"You spoiled the surprise now, I'm making fajitas!" She declared proudly. "You...won't tell anyone will you?"

"No." He assured her, looking around at the destruction that used to be the kitchen. There were pots, pans, utensils and food everywhere. Gray smoke billowed around the air, but Mia seemed completely oblivious to this. "Um...can I do anything?"

"I need to chop some more vegetables." She told him, holding out a hand as she inspected the salsa. "Give me the big blade."

He reached to the knife block, only for her to giggle.

"No, the BIG one!" She clarified. Kevin looked across to see her katana resting against the unit. He picked it up and handed it to her, uncertain how wise this was. The kitchen was already a disaster zone, and thanks to Mike's efforts to introduce the chronically uncoordinated Emily to the Nintendo Wii, the living room was only just being straightened out. He watched as she sliced cheerfully, humming to herself. Her technique with a sword was amazing, and he was somewhat impressed, albeit finding it a little disturbing to think that this was his dinner.

He had an idea that her recent experimentation in the kitchen was down to what Negatron had said to her. He had to admit that he was self-conscious about being seen as boring. When he had asked his friends about it, Jayden had told him that he was organised and focussed, and that they were admirable traits for a samurai. He had forced a smile and thanked him, but he couldn't help having a nagging doubt that the Red Ranger hadn't outright disagreed that he was boring. Indeed, none of them had exactly leapt to reassure him. He imagined that was the same with Mia and her cooking.

He thought she was amazing, but he couldn't possibly deny that she was possibly the worst cook he had ever met. He knew that he had lost weight as a result of being unable to stomach a lot of what she made, Jayden had said that he had lost six pounds since she moved in. When she came to him with a packed lunch, he had been fearful, and had managed to force a smile when he saw it. He had managed to force down one mouthful, but had to throw the rest away. He had been by there the following day and seen some of it still lying where he had thrown it. Apparently even the birds couldn't handle it.

He hated to think of hurting her feelings though. She was a genuinely warm and caring person. She had spent a long time as Emily's room-mate, and had done a lot to help her when she missed her home. She had also listened to him any time he told her how he had given up on his dream of swimming in the Olympics. She had assured him that they had all given up a lot and that they all missed home and would eventually go back to it. It was sweet of her to comfort him, but he was harshly aware of the timing.

He was in his mid twenties, and most athletes retired in their thirties. The Olympics only came around every four years, which was long time in athletics. If he was away from training for even a year, it was entirely possible he would be too old by the time the next games came around to compete at the top level. He had already accepted that it was possible his responsibility would rob him of every chance to live out his dream. He hadn't said that to her though, he knew she was only trying to make him feel better.

"I'll just go and prepare the oth...um...the table." He told her as he turned and left. He made his way into the living room where he found Jayden and Mike setting the new television up on the stand. Master Ji was watching them.

"A little to the left." He instructed them. "Are you sure...?"

"I've lived in five apartments in two years, I know how to link up cable." Mike sighed. He turned on the television, before inspecting the picture. He stood up and took a bow.

"I present to you, your new television." He answered.

"This will do." He replied sagely with a smile. "You don't need to worry, I feel that you and Emily will not need any punishment drills."

"Thank you sir." Mike replied gratefully. Kevin tapped Master Ji on the shoulder.

"Guys, Mia's doing another experiment." He told them. "She's making fajitas."

"Uh...tell her...my programme is on." Master Ji told him as he went to look out some sushi. "Tell her I'll look after myself."

"Guys, please, she's counting on us." Kevin begged them.

"Um...I think Emily and I..."

"You're both broke." Jayden reminded him. "You both just cleaned out your savings replacing the television."

"What about you then?" Mike asked him.

"I..."

"You know, I have noticed that the rest of us tend to wear our OWN colour." Kevin chipped in. "I mean, Mike wears Green, I wear blue..."

"But you always seem to end up wearing pink shirts." Mike concluded with a little smirk, realising where the leverage in this situation was.

"I suck at laundry alright?" Jayden muttered.

"Of course there might be another reason though." Kevin teased him. "Maybe you're doing it to wear a certain other samurai's colour."

"Kevin..."

"I wonder if Mia's noticed." Mike continued, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I mean, Negatron did say you had a secret, maybe..."

"I am not..."

"I wonder how Mia would react if we told her you were crushing on her." Kevin said with a smirk. "I mean, it could be awkward if..."

"I am not crushing on Mia!" Jayden snapped.

"Does she know that?" Mike asked him. Jayden just sighed and shook his head in defeat as Emily made her way in from the garden.

"Fine, I'll go along with it." He told them as Mia arrived.

"I've got the stuff out on the table!" She called out. "Dinner's served!"

"What am I in for?" Emily asked as Mia left, making sure she couldn't hear her.

"I hope you like spicy food." Mike told her, putting an arm around her as they made their way to the dining room. "Let's just hope three bathrooms is enough."


	2. Mia

Mike got up in the middle of the night for what seemed like the hundredth time. His stomach had been giving him incredible grief. None of the Rangers wanted to hurt Mia's feelings, and so they had all sat down and dutifully eaten her fajitas. They had all accepted that she was a pretty terrible cook, but this time she had surpassed even her own usual levels of thoroughly noxious cooking.

The chicken was dry, and burned to a crisp, the tortillas were underdone, and they were so spicy, that Mike was sure she must have used every ounce of chilli powder in the whole kitchen. His stomach had not stopped complaining since he had forced himself to force down the required two or three to make sure Mia didn't suspect how awful they really were. In some ways, he was starting to wonder if he had made a mistake by doing so.

As he got to the door of the closest bathroom, he noticed that the light was on, and he heard someone inside retching. Pushing open the door quietly, he found Emily doubled over the sink.

One of the things he loved about her was how dedicated she was to her friends. She had never let on that every mouthful was painful. He could see her eyes sparkling as the tears started to build up in them, but through it all she had managed to maintain a smile and assure Mia she was enjoying it. Clearly she was, if anything, worse off than he was, but she had managed to remain strong. He came over, brushing some of her hair back, holding it clear. She looked over to him, with tears running down her face and her nose dripping badly. Her eyes were very red from the efforts.

"Thanks." She muttered. "I thought it might have been Mia."

"I think she's immune to the effects of her own cooking." Mike commented with a small chuckle as he held her hair back, allowing her to finish throwing up. "Most animals are immune to their own poison."

"That's mean." She whined as she finished up, wiping her mouth with her wrist.

"Sorry, I guess you're right." He commented as she turned to look at him. "I've managed to keep it all down so far."

"Trust me; it burns more on the way back up as it did on the way down." She told him, trying not to find his gaze. She was now pointedly aware of the fact that neither of them was really dressed. She was wearing her night shirt, whereas Mike was clad only in his boxers. She was torn in her thoughts between loving getting a chance to see Mike not wearing much, but at the same time keenly aware of the fact that she was looking far from her best. She was pale, her eyes were puffy and red, and she was sure she probably had some sick in her hair.

"Um...what's the matter?" He asked her. He too was finding it pleasurable finding this opportunity to see her this way. She was wearing only a pale yellow night shirt, with a picture of a puppy on the chest. She was a little pink as she stared at his almost naked form. He suddenly realised himself that she was probably embarrassed. "Oh, right."

"It's just...I must look like a mess." She muttered as she withdrew into herself. He reached forward, brushing some hair back out of her face, cupping his cheek with his hand.

"I don't think so." He replied, taking a piece of tissue and wiping off her lips. "You're beautiful."

She closed her eyes as he started to pull towards her, drawing her nearer. She had cursed Jayden before for his unfortunate timing interrupting them, but now she was sure they were finally getting their chance to continue what they started. Just then though, the door flew open and they jumped away from each other as Kevin rushed in, his face a mask of panic, and threw himself onto the toilet, pulling down his pants.

"Sorry guys, emergency." He grunted. Mike just shook his head and walked out of the bathroom, closely followed by Emily. They closed the door behind them, giving him some privacy. They somehow doubted that he would have willingly pulled his pants down in front of them if it wasn't an emergency. Mike just stroked the back of his head nervously.

"Wow...um...twice in one day?" He commented jokingly. "Our timing kind of sucks."

"I guess that's the problem with a full house." Emily complained as she looked up to him, taking his hands in hers. "It...um...it will happen right?"

"What?" Mike asked her, becoming slightly nervous about what exactly she had meant by that. Emily suddenly realised what it sounded like.

"No, no, no nothing like that." She rushed out. "What I mean is, you know, you won't get bored? Decide that maybe it isn't worth it? I mean, there aren't really many places to go where we can get privacy, especially now we're going to be broke for the next couple of months."

"I can assure you of this much, with you, there is absolutely no danger of getting bored." He told her reassuringly, drawing closer to her. "Believe me, this will happen, and I have every confidence that it'll be well worth it."

She smiled as she heard him say this and nodded her head in acceptance of what he had said.

"If you can wait, then I guess I can too." She replied, dropping his hand regretfully and looking into his eyes one last time. "Goodnight Mike."

With that, she turned and went back to her room where Mia was sleeping soundly and closed the door behind her. Mike just sighed as he watched her go. He couldn't help being disappointed, but for the second time in one day, they had been interrupted. Emily was right about one thing, in the academy, they were unlikely to ever really get any privacy. He was interrupted as Jayden came out of his room.

"You too?" He asked. "I'm starting to think Mia's cooking is deadlier than the nighlocks."

"I'm sure we'll all be fine." Mike replied. Jayden noticed that he was a little distant, and that he didn't seem to be paying attention. He followed his gaze to the door of the girls' room. "Listen, I think I'm going to try and get some sleep. I'll catch you around OK?"

"I'll see you tomorrow." Jayden replied as Mike went back to his room. He clutched his stomach as he felt another deep rumble.

"Oh god, not again!" He rushed out as he sprinted off in search of a sink.

.


	3. A Talk Over Breakfast

The next morning, Emily felt a lot brighter. It was obvious that rather than actually being poisoned by the fajitas, it merely upset her stomach. She could remember acutely the time she had begged her parents to throw her a party in a burger joint in town near her home for her ninth birthday. It turned out that they had a far from stellar hygiene record, and half the kids at the party, including Emily and her sister Serena, were off school sick for days.

The symptoms then were similar to what she had felt last night, but lasted a lot longer. Thinking about it, the chicken was so overcooked, it seemed unlikely that any traces of salmonella would have survived, so she was confident she was over it. Looking across and finding Mia's bed empty, she checked the clock to ensure she hadn't slept in. Fortunately, she was still awake in time for breakfast, and got up, quickly dressing herself before heading to the living room.

Kevin, Mike and Jayden were all in the room, sitting with muesli, preparing their breakfast as she arrived. She poured herself some as well, and started eating to have something in her stomach after her night of enforced "evacuation". Given the way they were talking quietly, she could guess what the subject was. They all seemed to be healthy, but just like her, seemed tired as a result of having very little sleep. She knelt with them, next to Mike, giving him a little smile as they exchanged a glance. They had promised that they were still unsure what they had together, and being in the house with the others made getting privacy for them to explore what was forming between them impossible, but they had promised each other that they would try at some point.

"All I'm saying is this time we got away lucky." Jayden whispered, rousing her attention. "I don't know about any of you, but I maybe got about three hours' sleep the whole night."

"I spent half of my time on the toilet." Kevin agreed sadly. Mike and Emily just suppressed a giggle at his expense. They, unfortunately, had direct experience of that. The image of Kevin running in, desperate for a throne, the necessity of expediency obviously over-riding his embarrassment as he whipped his pants down in front of them had somewhat killed the romance of the moment.

"I know we were only trying to spare her feelings, but in future, I think we need to put our health ahead of that." Jayden put down. "Last night was unpleasant, but..."

"Look, I wasn't having much fun either, but Mia's never been anything but nice to me." Emily interrupted the Red Ranger nervously. "She's always made me feel better when I get homesick. She could be a bit sensitive..."

"So telling her that her cooking is more likely to kill us than Lord Xandred is hardly likely to help the team dynamic." Mike suggested. Emily smacked him on the arm for his somewhat blunt way of putting it, but couldn't help thinking that he had said pretty much exactly what she was thinking. Jayden nodded.

"I understand that, but two days ago, her asparagus was raw! The day before that, her cupcakes were still liquid in the middle." He reminded them. "I like her as much as the rest of you..."

Mike and Kevin both chuckled, remembering how they had blackmailed him into eating the fajitas by telling him they would say his habit of pink shirts was because he was crushing on her. It wasn't true, Jayden had never considered her that way, indeed he had never thought that way about either of the girls on the team, but that didn't mean that Mia wouldn't believe it. It would make training and teamwork awkward if she thought that was true. He just shot them both a warning glance.

"Mentor Ji talked to me already about this matter, and we both agree that it's for the best if we just tell her." He told them. "Last night we got lucky, but if she does give us food poisoning, then it'll weaken us, and we can't afford that."

"Fine." Kevin sighed as he pulled out a set of scales and set them down on the table, beginning to spoon some muesli into the bowl. He kept a careful eye on the gauge as he started to measure out the exact recommended portion to the last sultana. "Which one of us has to tell her?"

"It's bad enough having to be on the team with her if we hurt her feelings." Emily began, watching him curiously. "I share a room with her too. That would just be unbearable."

"Um...what are you doing? Just eat already." Mike told Kevin as he finished a bite of his own cereal. Kevin just looked at him like it was a strange question. He knew Mike wasn't as serious about the regulations and traditions of the Samurai as him, but he thought it was pretty obvious.

"There's a right way and a wrong way to do everything within the Samurai code." Kevin said matter-of-factly, looking around and seeing that both Mike and Emily were looking at him like he was being ridiculous. Even Jayden was shaking his head and laughing at the display, and he had been at the academy a lot longer than all of them, having spent much of his childhood there.

"Wow, you're so wound up, I'm amazed you can digest your food." Kevin replied. "Although if you could stomach Mia's..." He was cut off as Emily nudged him again.

Just then, Mia came in with a bright smile on her face, laying down a dish on the table.

"I came up with a new recipe." She told them. "Everyone loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches right? Well what could be better for breakfast than a PB&J omelette?"

As she removed the closh, they all looked at it in horror. The first thought through Emily's mind was that it looked a lot like the fajitas had when she brought them back up, and the resemblance threatened to turn her stomach. Kevin was the first to speak.

"Darn, I'm stuffed, I just ate." He replied, putting down an empty bowl. "Rain check?"

Jayden and Emily just indicated that they too had already fixed their breakfast. Kevin quickly threw his muesli into a bowl. So quickly in fact, he hadn't noticed that he had thrown in orange juice instead of milk, and immediately started to wolf it down.

"Precision and discipline huh?" Mike said sarcastically, only getting a glare from Kevin in response as his mouth was full. Kevin hated the thought that one of them would have to tell her the awful truth about her culinary skills, or, more accurately, lack of them. There was no way to avoid the fact it would hurt her feelings if they told her that not only was it simply not good, but that it was now so bad, it was becoming a real security concern.

"Everyone, I have excellent news!" Mentor Ji announced as he arrived. "The missing Swordfish Zord has been spotted in Lementor Beach."

Jayden looked up as he heard this. They all knew that there were other power disks and new zords to be found, many of which had been lost for centuries. The Bettle Zord had undoubtedly been a huge benefit in their battles recently, and a new Zord could only help their cause.

"A swordfish?" Mia asked him. She looked away thoughtfully for a second. "That reminds me, there's a recipe I've been wanting to try..."

"The Swordfish went missing in action years ago." He told them. "If we don't catch it now, who knows when we'll get another chance?"

Just then the Gap Sensor sounded an alarm. Jayden got up and looked around the room, trying to determine the best course of action. They needed to deal with the new Nighlock's attack, but Mentor Ji was right. It had been almost a generation since the swordfish was last seen. It was possible that this would be the only chance they'd get. His gaze rested on Kevin, and he made his decision. With his determination and discipline, he knew that Kevin would not fail, and his mastery of Water symbol power would give him some level of affinity with it."

"Kevin." He announced. Kevin stood up eagerly. "We'll go after the Nighlock. I want you to catch that swordfish. Are you up for a solo mission?"

"I've been training my whole life for this." Kevin replied proudly.

"With your mastery of symbol power over water, I'm confident you'll catch that zord." He replied, handing him a blank power disk. The others were already on their way, but Jayden held Kevin back for a second. "You also have one other solo mission."

Kevin looked at him and he could guess what Jayden was going to say. His heart sank a little.

"Emily has to share a room with Mia, and Mike is as diplomatic as a sledgehammer." He told him. "I think what we talked about might be best coming from you."

Kevin nodded and left, heading for the jeep. As he stared at the power disk, making his way to the beach, he suddenly got a thought. He had heard that the swordfish had some kind of cleansing or healing abilities. He was sure he had read that somewhere in his many books on Samurai history. His determination doubled as he thought about this. With the swordfish, not only would they have a new weapon in their arsenal, it was also possible that he wouldn't need to have that talk with Mia after all.


	4. Catching the Swordfish

Kevin arrived at the beach, looking out over the vast ocean. He always felt at home near water, even before his father taught him that his destiny was to control it. He had quite literally been introduced to water before he could walk.

His parents used to take him to the beach every weekend, and they had a pool in their back yard which they took him swimming in every day, even when they needed to supply him with floatation devices or his father had to carry him in his arms because he was too young to physically swim himself. In hindsight, he knew now that it was just to get him used to the presence of water from an early age, yet another part of the training that had encompassed his whole life, but it had also led to a life-long obsession with his dream of swimming in the Olympics.

He pulled out the blank power disk, and held it in his hand as he kept watch for the Swordfish Zord. Mentor Ji was sure it was around here somewhere, indeed, he had said it had been sighted. He paused for a moment and blinked as he thought about that choice of phrase for the first time. It had been SIGHTED." Who by? Who had seen it? Mentor Ji and the Rangers had been in the academy all day, and he knew that they had been there all night as a result of the nightmare following "fajita night". He had never thought about it before now, but thinking about it, he imagined seeing a one hundred foot metal swordfish swimming around would likely raise some eyebrows. If someone outside of the Rangers had seen it, he imagined it would have been in the news by now, or at very least, on Youtube.

He suddenly became aware of the fact that he was exposed out here. He wasn't morphed, and while very few people were around this part of the beach, preferring the comfortable, sandy, sun-drenched parts, he considered the fact that he might be seen trying to lure a gigantic swordfish to the shore and considered morphing, at very least to conceal his identity from any unwary explorers. This thought was interrupted though as he saw it leaping out of the ocean, higher than a skyscraper. It was absolutely immense. Even at this distance, he could see it clearly. It was bright cyan in colour, and shone in the sun. As it plunged below the depths, it raised almost no wake, slicing through the surface with ease. Suddenly, all thoughts of his identity were lost as he once again became focused on his task. Pulling out his Samuraiser, he scrawled a symbol in the air, at which a fishing rod appeared in his hand. Mounting the blank power disk on the spindle, he cast out his line. He would have the Swordfish Zord in no time, and in doing so, not only would he bring them a powerful weapon, but he would ensure that he would never have to hurt Mia by telling her the truth about how awful her cooking was.

As he got a bite, he smiled and spun the power disk, hoping to reel it in, and fought with the rod as it pulled him towards the water, only for the line to snap. The Swordfish had pulled away from him. He sighed and repaired the line as he considered his next choice of symbol to use. Clearly, this would take a lot longer than he thought.

Indeed it did. His clothes were sticking to him from his sweat as he continued to cast line after line into the water. He hadn't brought water, sun block, or even a hat. He knew it was a hot day, but he hadn't counted on the whole thing taking this long. He was sure he'd have caught it by now, and he would have returned to his friends with their new weapon, but so far it was always just out of reach. He didn't know exactly how long he had been out there, but it felt like days, and his arms and legs felt like lead. Heat stroke was beginning to become an issue, and he was sure he was dehydrated.

He didn't know why it wasn't working; he was trying every symbol he could think of. Lure, capture, catch, reel, hook...he was starting to run out of ideas as quickly as he was running out of strength in the unrelenting heat. As he cast one more line, trying the capture symbol one more time, his vision began to blur, and his knees started to buckle under him. He tried to remain upright, casting his thoughts to his friends, his family, indeed, the very world, to all the people who were depending on him to capture the zord, but eventually exhaustion overcame even his iron will, and he collapsed. As he passed out, he was sure he saw a pair of boots approaching him.

When he woke up, he found himself in some kind of ramshackle shelter. There was a couple of camping tables around, covered in camping gear and fishing supplies. As he rose, he could see a slightly scruffy looking man a short way off. He was a big guy, in a brown cardigan and khaki trousers, with dark brown, curly hair. As he turned towards Kevin, he could see that he had a round, kind face, covered in messy stubble that suggested he had been out here for a couple of days. He appeared to be cooking something.

"What happened?" Kevin asked him.

"You fainted." He answered bluntly. "I didn't want to leave you out there to roast."

He was still weak, but Kevin knew how important his mission was. He was grateful to the stranger for helping him, but he couldn't afford to stay until he was back to full strength.

"Thanks for all your help, but I really have to go." He told the man gratefully. "I have to catch a fish."

"I say that every day." The fisherman laughed in response as Kevin's Samuraiser bleeped. He just squinted at the curious young man as he answered it. All he could hear was Kevin's side of the conversation, something about his friends being poisoned.

"Seriously, thanks for everything, but I have a swordfish to catch." Kevin told the fisherman before running off. The fisherman just shook his head and went back to what he was doing.

Emily leaned across, placing her wash cloth in the bowl and wringing it out, her hand touching Mike's as she did so. She looked up his arm, finding him looking back at her through weary, slightly reddened eyes. She smiled weakly.

"I thought you preferred frozen peas." He commented, raising a small, weak laugh from her.

"Only for bruising." She responded as she lay back, placing it over her forehead. "That Nighlock was pretty nasty. I can't believe he poisoned us."

"Yeah, when they fight fair and just kick our asses at least we have a shot." Mike agreed. "I'm sure Kevin would say poisoning's underhanded and dishonourable. Something about being felled by unseen forces and all that kind of stuff."

He felt Emily's hand creeping across, taking his softly and smiled.

"I feel awful." She told him. "Do you think it'll pass?"

"I don't know. Mentor Ji said something about needing a cleansing force like the Swordfish Zord." Mike told her.

"Let's hope he's a good fisherman." She muttered.

"Tell me about it." He groaned. "I haven't felt this bad since last night."

"You were sick last night?" They heard Mia's voice ask weakly from the other side of the room. Mike and Emily looked at each other a little alarmed as they realised she had heard them. Just then, the Gap Sensor sounded. Mentor Ji pulled out his communicator, and they saw Jayden getting up from his bed, shifting from the bed to the wall quickly, unable to support his own weight for any length of time.

"Kevin, we have another attack." He informed the Blue Ranger, before turning to see Jayden. "Jayden..."

"You heard the Gap Sensor. We have a Nighlock to fight." Jayden said stubbornly. His determination was admirable, but was also one of his most self-destructive traits. He could barely stand, much less fight. Mentor Ji grabbed him, trying to hold him up.

Back on the beach, as he listened to his communicator, Kevin couldn't hear exactly what was going on, but could hear some kind of argument going on in the background. Eventually, he heard Jayden's voice.

"Kevin, don't worry about me, the Mentor's exaggerating." He began. Kevin didn't need to see him to hear the weakness in his voice and realise that it was probably Jayden who was exaggerating to put his mind at rest. "Just concentrate on your mission. I didn't just randomly choose you for this mission. I chose you because of your commitment and discipline. I know you can overcome any obstacle."

"I won't let you down!" Kevin stated, putting away his communicator, his determination renewed. He knew that Jayden would never quit, no matter how sick he was, and so he had to man up and do the same.

He continued to cast line after line, once again feeling his frustration building as he racked his brains for an answer. He was trying every symbol he could imagine, but he couldn't think of anything that would lure the swordfish onto the line. He felt a jolt of energy that sent him falling to his knees, and a pair of hands grabbed him. He looked up, seeing the fisherman behind him.

"Sit down." He told Kevin, fetching a flask from his belt. "Drink this."

As Kevin gulped the cold, soothing water furiously, the older man just looked at him curiously.

"Young man, why are you doing this to yourself?" He asked him.

"I have to bring in a swordfish, but my symbol power..." His words tailed off as he realised he was about to expose his secret to a stranger. Although he doubted this man had a direct line to the National Enquirer or anything, he knew it was still against the code to reveal himself. "What I'm doing isn't working."

"So why make yourself sick?" The fisherman asked in response. "There are plenty of easier catches than..."

"This one is special! My friends are counting on me!" Kevin blurted out. "I need to catch it, and I need it now!"

The fisherman just sighed and picked up the rod, handing it to Kevin.

"Then it's time for you to bring in that swordfish." He told him. Kevin was about to cast his line when he thought of something.

"Bring in?" He asked under his breath. A ghost of a smile came to his lips and he tried a new symbol, casting out his line one last time.

Feeling the Swordfish bite, Kevin spun the power disk, struggling to keep his footing on the loose rocks. He felt the fisherman's hand on his shoulder and took it as a comforting gesture. With one last pull, it flew out of the water, causing both men to tumble to the rocks. Kevin held up the rod, and the swordfish vanished inside it. The rod disappeared, and in a flash of light, the disk took on a new, cyan colour, just like the swordfish. Kevin smiled as he stared at the disk.

"It's on the disk, I did it!" He called out. The fisherman just looked between him and the disk in amazement.

"Just what kind of swordfish is that exactly?" He asked.

"I told you it was special." He replied as he ran off, eager to rejoin his friends in battle. The fisherman got up from the rocks, smiling at he pulled out a communicator.

"Mentor Ji, it's me. He got it." He stated. "He had every reason, every opportunity to give up, but he didn't."

"It's not in his nature. Kevin is true Samurai." Mentor Ji replied. "So you did everything as I asked?"

"I suggested he quit, I gave him as little help as possible, and I let him figure out the lesson on his own." He answered sagely. "He truly could be one of the greats."

"Thank you for all your help old friend." Mentor Ji responded.

"We're always here for the Samurai." The fisherman assured him with a proud grin. "We always have been, and we always will be." With that, he hung up; looking down the path Kevin had taken.

"You're one of the best I've seen kid." The fisherman declared. "That Nighlock doesn't stand a chance."


	5. Kevin's Other Mission

After the battle, the Rangers decided to make a small detour to the beach on their way back to the academy. They had all congratulated Kevin and thanked him for arriving with the Swordfish Zord in time to save the day. He had healed them all with the Swordfish Zord, allowing them to regain their full strength in battle. He knew that as a Samurai, strictly speaking it wasn't all about credit, and that simply doing his duty was where he should derive his pride, but in the end, even he had to admit that it felt good to get the praise for destroying the Nighlock.

He couldn't help staring at the cyan Swordfish Disk proudly. It had been a hard task to acquire it, but in the end, he couldn't help feeling like so far this was the greatest accomplishment of his life.

"Ahhh...the sweet smell of success!" Mike declared out loud, throwing his arms out wide. Emily looked to Mia, remembering their careless words earlier. Mia's sense of duty was strong enough that she had put aside her inquiry into their comment about being sick last night, but now that they no longer had the Nighlock to worry about, she hoped that she would have forgotten about it. She nudged Mia and gestured to Mike, and then to the ocean. Mia gave her a little smile and the two rushed him, grabbing his arms and dragging him into the water where they all started splashing around playfully.

Kevin couldn't help watching Mia. She was a bit more subdued than the others, but she was smiling, and seemed happy the battle was over. Gripping the Swordfish Disk, he was happy to think that he wouldn't have to talk to her. Jayden came over to him, smiling.

"How does it feel to see all that training pay off?" He asked him. Kevin just looked back to Mia and nodded as his smile grew a little wider. Today was a great day for him. He had passed his greatest test, and proven that his training had all been worth it. He had acquired a powerful weapon that had been lost for years, and he had acquired the means to preserve the feelings of one of his best friends by allowing her to remain ignorant of one of her few weaknesses.

"It feels great." Kevin answered him sagely. "But it wasn't just my training. All the practice and dedication in the world doesn't mean anything if you don't truly believe in yourself too."

"Hey!" Mia yelled over from the water's edge, attracting their attention. By now, she was dripping wet as a result of the impromptu water fight Emily and Mike had dragged her into, but they were far worse. By now, they were wrestling each other into the water, completely soaking each other. "The next time we have a day off we should spend the whole day at the beach!"

"Only if you promise to bring some sunscreen." He replied. "Man, I got fried out here!"

Mia laughed, lifting everyone's spirits and turned to rejoin the water fight, making Jayden glad that by habit, they normally kept towels, spare clothes and blankets in the jeep since they never knew what to expect in the field. As Kevin was about to join them, Jayden stopped him, looking down to the disk in his hand.

"You know, that might be helpful in the future if it can heal ailments." He commented. "If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say it might even be used to cure, say, an upset stomach caused by some questionable cooking?"

"I guess so." Kevin answered, a little curious as to where Jayden was going with this. Jayden just shook his head.

"In fact, if I was in your shoes, with that other mission I charged you with, then I might be tempted to just use it to side-step an unpleasant conversation." He continued to press on. "No one likes to tell someone something bad, especially someone they care about."

Kevin just sighed and looked back to the disk in response. Jayden had obviously had some of the same thoughts he had.

"Mia..."

"We can't just use the Swordfish Zord as a cure-all panacea just because you don't want to talk to her." Jayden explained. "What if it doesn't have the power it needs in battle because it's using too much of it healing us?"

"I hadn't thought..."

"What about Mia?" He asked him. "How do you think she'd feel if she finds us using it? How do you think she'd feel if she found out later that we had been lying to her?"

Kevin couldn't answer. He hated the thought of having to say something to her, of risking hurting her feelings but Jayden had a point. She had deluded herself for this long, having her delusions shattered by finding out herself.

"She once suggested she might think about opening a restaurant once this is over." Jayden told him. "Food critics don't care about people's feelings, and repo men don't either. Do you really think you'd be doing her any kind of favour letting her go on and expose herself to something like that?"

"I guess not." Kevin whispered sadly. Jayden put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's admirable that you don't want to hurt her feelings, but sometimes the saying about being cruel to be kind is true." Jayden told him. "Just like this morning, I didn't randomly choose you for this task. This is one of the hardest things I could ask any of you to do, but I know you can do it."

"I will." Kevin replied. "I'll do it tonight after dinner."

"I'll have Master Ji call in a JKP." Jayden told him, jerking his head in the direction of the ocean. "Until then, what do you say we join them?"

"I guess there's no point letting them have all the fun." Kevin answered as they both sprinted off to join their friends, ploughing into the ocean, laughing and joking. Kevin grabbed Mia, throwing her over into the water, completely drenching her, at which she came up laughing. It cheered him up a little. It was good that she was having such a good time now, especially given the talk he needed to have with her tonight.

A while later, back at the academy, they were all kneeling around the table, a few pizza boxes lying around. A couple of them were already empty, but there was still one left. Mike reached for it, opening it up and taking a deep sniff.

"Seafood spectacular!" He announced. "Calamari, crabsticks, anchovies and swordf..."

"Um...should we really be eating that?" Emily asked. "I mean, a swordfish did save our hides earlier."

"You shouldn't deny yourselves just because the Zord takes on its likeness." Mentor Ji told them as he took a slice and taking a bite. "Besides, it's great pizza."

"I think I'm actually kind of full." Mia replied, looking away. "I'm just going out for some fresh air."

Kevin looked to Jayden and nodded in understanding. This was the opportunity he has been waiting for. As he was about to get up though, he caught a glance of her plate. It only had a slice of ham and pineapple on it, the very first pizza they had opened, and more than that, it had barely been touched. He got up from the table and left, following Mia out into the garden. There, he saw her sitting on a bench, huddled over.

As he got closer, he heard a distinctive sound, and placed a hand on her shoulder. As she looked up to him, he could see that she had been crying.

"You hardly touched your pizza." He commented. "The one with the bananas was a bit odd, but they were pretty good."

"I could have cooked like every other night." She commented. "Why did you order in pizza?"

"We just thought you'd appreciate a night off." Kevin told her. "I mean, after the day we had, and that rank Nighlock..."

"This morning, none of you wanted my omelette." She sniffed as he sat down next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders gently. "Mike said last night you had all been sick."

Kevin made a mental note to kick Mike's ass later. Clearly she was upset because she had figured out what was going on. She just looked to him with sparkling eyes. "Is my cooking really that bad?"

He had been placed in a terrible situation by that question. He didn't want to have this conversation in the first place, but at least when Jayden had convinced him he needed to, he hoped to approach it a little more gently. He just took a deep breath.

"It isn't the best." He admitted. "We just didn't want to hurt your feelings."

She just nodded as she looked back to the ground, wiping her eyes.

"So Jayden hasn't been losing weight because my cooking's healthy." She muttered. "He's been losing weight because he'd rather starve than eat it."

"It isn't that bad." He assured her. "I'm pretty hopeless in the kitchen too. Whenever my parents were out of town, I lived on muesli."

"Mom and dad always told me it was good." She told him. "I guess now I can see they were just humouring me."

"Parents always look out for their kids." He told her. "Look, cooking might not be one of your major talents, but then we were never good at anything at the beginning. When I first tried to swim without my parents watching I almost drowned."

She just looked at him, a little surprised to hear that. He had told her all about his training and his dreams of competing in the Olympics.

"Dad had been teaching me a lot, so I thought I was ready to try by myself. I went into the pool without them knowing." He told her. "I was lucky dad came out to chlorinate the pool. He jumped right in and pulled me out. He was a much better teacher than I was."

"I was a self-taught cook." She admitted. "I guess I didn't have a great teacher."

"Maybe that's something you can change." He suggested. "I mean, we're all here to learn right?"

"I guess." She responded with a shrug. "I can't believe I made you all sick."

"Well I'll give you one lesson for free. When the fajita recipe calls for a tsp of chilli powder? That's short for teaspoon, not tablespoon."

"Was it really that bad?" She asked him. He just nodded as he held her tightly.

"It was definitely an experience I'd prefer not to repeat." He admitted. "You're a great person Mia. You're kind, thoughtful, you're an amazing fighter. You always know just what to say..."

He tailed off as he looked at her, and he just shook his head gently.

"I wouldn't worry about the fact cooking isn't your strong point." He told her. She just leaned in, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you." She replied. Kevin smiled as he held her in his arms tightly.

"Any time." He assured her.

Fin.


End file.
